THE LOCAL DOMINO from the 2007 Symposium!

THE MOMENT: Dr. Daniel Nocera joins the Mountainfilm 2007 Moving Mountains Symposium on Energy to discuss the most pre-eminent sustainable and renewable carbon-neutral energy source - sunlight. Nocera addresses the largest Symposium audience ever with a presentation centered around the fact that within our lifetimes energy consumption will increase two-fold, and that the additional energy we will need is simply not attainable from nuclear, biomass, wind, geothermal or hydroelectric technologies.

THE RESULT: In a town that has historically fought to maintain it's victorian charm rather than address the current energy crisis, a local Telluridian seeks to reduce his property's average consumption of fossil-fuel-generated energy down to zero by installing solar panels in his home. Although this type of system (with both photo and voltaic panels for production and solar condensing tubes to make hot water) had never before been approved within town limits, his application to put solar panels on the roof passes! In his argument for the energy conversion, the man states, "This project is not being done for financial reasons". He cited Dr. Nocera's presentation at Mountainfilm as motivation for the change. Installation began on Ocotber 16, 2007. Now, for every visitor into the town of Telluride, there will be a visual manifestation of Telluride's commitment to renewable energy.

THE NEWEST DOMINO from the 2007 Festival!

THE MOMENT: The filmmaking team of “Darius Goes West: The Roll of his Life” desperately wanted to get in touch with Oprah Winfrey, hoping that an appearance on her show would dramatically raise awareness of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), the number one genetic killer of children worldwide. During their packed house post-screening Q&A, they handed out pre-addressed postcards to Oprah and asked the audience to fill them out and forward on their behalf.

THE RESULT: An independent filmmaker in the audience, who had previously worked closely with Oprah, refused to forward the card. Instead, he gave the team her direct phone number. Then a major Hollywood director, after making a generous financial donation to the fight against DMD, invited the team, including Darius and his mother, to an all-expenses-paid visit to Beverly Hills and to the premiere of his latest film. The team accepted the invitation and took advantage of the exposure they were afforded while in Hollywood to push closer to the goal of eradicating DMD.

THE MOMENT: Canadian filmmaker Richard Fitoussi screens his powerful depiction of former Khmer Rouge orphan soldier Aki Ra, a man who has devoted his life to clearing the landmines that he and his fellow soldiers had planted throughout the Cambodian countryside. Not far from Angkor Wat, a major tourist destination (and much to the dismay of the Cambodian government, which would rather forget its country’s past), Aki has set up a makeshift landmine museum. In closing, Fitoussi appeals for funds so that Aki may continue his valuable work.

THE RESULT: An audience member asks “how much?” Fitoussi responds: “$85,000.” The man promises a check is on the way. That money is now in Cambodia, a Landmine Museum has been created, and the donation has even funded a prosthetic-limb clinic behind the open-air museum.

THE MOMENT: Ophthalmologist and mountaineer Geoff Tabin and his Nepalese colleague, Sanduk Riat, present a program about restoring sight for hundreds of Himalayan villagers.

THE RESULT: An audience member is moved to join Tabin and Riat on their next vision quest. Impressed by the effective high-tech, low-cost work practiced by the Himalayan Cataract Project, the man finances a grant that has raised $350,000. That gift is building a hospital that will continue the work and save sight for tens of thousands more.

THE MOMENT: On the lawn between films, Galen Rowell and Rick Ridgeway discuss their excitement to explore “the most remote region ever experienced” by legendary George Schaller. Caught up in Schaller’s vision, the two form a team that includes Conrad Anker and Jimmy Chin and, within a year, set off on foot into the uninhabited Chang Tang plateau of Tibet.

THE RESULT: Having gathered indisputable documentation where none existed before, the group persuades the government of China to preserve hundreds of thousands of acres as a new national park that will protect the birthing grounds of the rare and endangered Tibetan antelope, the chirru. In 2004, the team presented their 275-mile, unsupported journey’s film, in memory of Galen.

THE MOMENT: Harvard-trained ethnobotanist Mark Plotkin presents a film about the pharmacological wonders of the Amazon, The Shaman's Apprentice, finishing with the all-too-known statistics about thousands of acres lost within days, endangering the livelihood of indigenous peoples.

THE RESULT: An audience member antes up the dollars necessary to save a swath of the forest, permitting a culture to evolve at its natural pace.